Are You My Mother?
by SeverusHaveILoved
Summary: Post-war. Harry Potter is left with a marriage in shambles and a son with a disorder that no one seems to understand. Through an accidental meeting with Draco Malfoy and his son Scorpius, the Potter family learns to live again and to celebrate the differences in each of us. Slight creature fic elements. AU Slash


A/N: The title of this little ficlet comes from a children's book by P.D. Eastman.

**Chapter One**

A little boy with beautiful, white-blonde hair stared longingly in the window of the broom shop. He wanted a broom of his own desperately, so that he could join his daddy's Quidditch team, the Falmouth Falcons. His mother wouldn't allow it though. She thought six was, "too young to be riding on brooms, young man!" Daddy didn't think so though, and when Mother was visiting her friends, Daddy would take him up in the air around their Quidditch pitch at home. That was so much fun!

The boy's attention was caught when he heard the voice of his father a few feet away. "Scorpius, stay here, I'll only be a moment and then we'll be off to get an ice cream at Fortescues. Can you do that son?"

"Yes, Daddy, I'll stay right here," the boy responded willingly. He went back to staring glumly at the brooms and fantasizing about having his own. His mother was so mean! It wasn't fair! Adrian Rosier had a training broom already. Scorpius wasn't even allowed to have one of those.

Again the boy's attention was caught, but this time it was because another little boy about his size popped up right next to him.

"Hello, I'm Scorpius, who are you?" The other boy didn't answer though, which Scorpius thought was odd, but that was okay, the Malfoy heir wasn't about to turn down another friend just because he didn't talk when you wanted him too.

His daddy was teaching him how to be a good friend, and he always said to not judge a person on first impressions because you don't know the other person's background or situation. Scorpius wasn't sure what all of that meant, but daddy seemed so serious about it. He said that he had done that once and had regretted it ever since. His daddy had looked so sad that Scorpius thought it was best to listen to his advice.

Other things about the boy were odd though Scorpius noticed, like his clothes didn't seem quite right. The boy wasn't wearing robes like Scorpius; he had on some muggle clothes, but not the ones that the blonde had seen when his father took him to the park in London. These clothes were loose fitting and seemed to be made of light material. It was October and starting to get chilly out. Scorpius' daddy had already put a warming charm on his robes, so that he wouldn't get cold. The boy next to him didn't even have a coat on!

The boy also seemed to be standing on his tip-toes, but that still didn't make him taller than himself, Scorpius noted smugly. The child also had an odd look on his face. He seemed to be looking towards the Malfoy heir, but it was if he was looking right through him. It was all a bit unsettling.

Scorpius began looking around for his daddy. Maybe his daddy could put a warming charm on his new friend, and get the other boy to tell Scorpius his name. Scorpius knew that it was important for friends to know each other's names. Then his new friend could have ice cream with them.

Before he could find his father though, the dark-haired boy spoke to him in a low, flat voice, "Are you my mother?"

The blonde was confused by his friend's question, but answered anyway, "No, I'm not your mother."

This response produced a gale of laughter and clapping from the boy next to him. The boy even started jumping up and down and flapping both his hands in a quick pattern, like the hummingbird's wings Scorpius had seen the week before in the garden at Malfoy Manner.

The dark-haired child then spoke again in that low, flat voice, "No, said the cow, I am not your mother." He stared expectantly at the blonde, cocking his head to the side slightly, waiting for Scorpius to respond.

"Do you want me to say that too?" Scorpius wasn't sure what to do, so he just went along with what his new friend wanted. "Okay, let's start over, you ask me first," the blonde said after pausing to scout for his father again.

"Are you my mother?" The boy began in that monotonous voice again.

"No, said the cow, I am not your mother." Scorpius responded, but before he could even finish the other boy had started his clapping, jumping and flapping again. He was so excited that Scorpius started smiling too. He was pleased that he had made his new friend so happy!

The other boy then darted closer to him and licked the blonde's cheek. Scorpius had seen Adrian's pet crup do this to him and Adrian had said that his crup was his best friend. Did this mean that the dark-haired boy was his best friend too? The blonde boy was very pleased with the thought of having a best friend and impulsively grabbed the other boy's hand to hold.

Being this close, Scorpius now noticed that his new best friend had green eyes that sparkled like his grandmama's emerald ring. The Malfoy heir liked that very much. His own eyes were dull silver like his daddy's eyes and he thought it nice that his best friend should have eyes that people noticed.

The boy leaned into to him and started sniffing his hair and then whispered to him, "The kitten was not his mother." He looked very serious about this, so Scorpius thought this must be a very important piece of information. Before he could respond though, the blonde heard his daddy calling for him in his smooth, cultured voice. He waited until his father was next to him before launching in to tell his father about his new best friend.

The older Malfoy beat him to it though by asking, "Scorpius, who is this?"

"Daddy, this is my new best friend. Can he come to Fortescue's with us? I think he would like chocolate ice cream with sprinkles, just like me."

"I'm not sure Scorp, where are his parents?"

The younger Malfoy noticed his father looking at his best friend oddly, kind of sad, like when he told stories from when he was a boy at Hogwarts.

"I don't know Daddy, but do you think you can warm him up, because his hands are kinda cold and he's not wearing a coat?"

"I don't think I should cast a charm on someone else's child, buddy." The taller blonde replied.

Scorpius pondered the problem briefly before responding, "Well, can you make your cloak smaller and put him in it like when I forgot my coat when we went to visit the new baby Abraxan?"

The older Malfoy considered this option and then took off his cloak, shrunk it and held it out to the dark-haired boy and addressed him for the first time in a kind voice. "Are you cold young man? Would you like to wear my cloak? It is very warm." The boy didn't respond though, instead he buried his nose in Scorpius' neck, tickling him so that the blonde boy started giggling.

"His nose is cold and it tickles, Daddy." Scorpius then grabbed his father's shrunken cloak and tried to wrap it around his friend, but the boy did not seem to want it on. He clung even tighter to Scorpius' side and started muttering about a baby bird.

"How about I wrap it around you both and then we look for his parents? I bet they are worried about him being by himself." The older Malfoy took his cloak back and returned it to its original size. He wrapped it around Scorpius first and then the smaller boy clinging to his son. Once that was done, he hesitated briefly, then bent down enfolding both boys in his arms, and picked them up.

Scorpius instinctively wrapped his legs around his father, but his best friend seemed to just hang there in his Daddy's arms. "You need to hold on to Daddy, okay?" He told his friend, but the other little boy still didn't do anything, but try to continue clinging to Scorpius and hiding his face in the blonde boy's hair.

Leaning back slightly Scorpius said to his father, "Daddy, can you put him between us so that he can hold on to me? I think he likes how I smell. Grandmama always says that I smell like a fresh spring morning and I think my best friend likes to be outside. Do you think I smell good Daddy?"

"Yes, very nice," his father muttered as he arranged the boys so that the dark-haired, elfin child was between Scorpius and his father. Draco squeezed both boys lightly, feeling strangely content in a way that he had not experienced in a long while. He had to control the urge to bury his face in the young boy's hair to take in a more concentrated amount of the sweet fragrance wafting off the child. He had an idea of why the youngster's smell was so pleasing to him, especially considering he was feeling so protective and affectionate toward this child who was a stranger to him.

"Scorpius, we need to find your friend's parents. I'm sure that they are very concerned about where he is right now. I would imagine that they are very worried about him."

"Yes daddy, you are right. Maybe, after we find his parents, we can all go to Fortescues together?" The blonde child brightened up considerably at that thought. He did not want his best friend to go home yet. He didn't even know his name!

Just then another child, a few years older than Scorpius, ran up and stopped next to them. "Albie, you are not supposed to run away like that. Dad is looking for you everywhere." The boy then seemed to notice the two blondes that literally surrounded his little brother. "Who are you? Why are you holding Albie? He doesn't usually like to be held, and definitely not by strangers."

Scorpius elected himself as the Malfoy spokesperson and said, "I'm Scorpius and this is my Daddy. He picked up my new best friend because he was getting cold and Daddy didn't think we should make him warm with a charm because he didn't have my best friend's mommy or daddy's permission." Scorpius looked faintly proud that he had relayed all that information to an older boy, even if he had lisped slightly on the last word.

The boy only gave him a strange look however, and replied, "Albie doesn't have any friends. He doesn't like other people very much. He doesn't even like our mother; he never lets her near him without screaming bloody murder."

"Oh no, we have had a very good time together," the blonde boy protested, "He wants to be my best friend and we are going to get ice cream at Fortescues." Scorpius was so pleased that he knew his friend's name. Now, they could be best friends and spend time at each other's houses. Maybe his Albie had a training broom like Adrian Rosier.

Before he could enquire about that though, a tall, dark-haired man with the same glittering, green eyes appeared before them, clearly shocked by the scene before him. "Albie," he gasped out, surprise and clear anxiety coloring his tone as he focused on his son. The dark-haired man then looked towards his old school adversary in that same dazed way, clearly lost for words to deal with this situation.

"Potter . . . Harry, my son Scorpius and I found him here alone. I was hoping you would see us if I picked him up. Scorpius was concerned that he might be cold, so we wrapped my cloak about him, but he seems to have taken to Scorpius and won't let him go." Draco tried to explain as clearly and concisely as he could. He had wanted to have a chance to talk to Potter for many years, and he didn't want to waste this opportunity fate had given him.

"He let you pick him up without screaming?" Again, this was asked in a clearly astonished tone of voice.

"Yes, I . . . is that a problem?" Draco finished somewhat unsurely. The blonde had picked up on a few oddities about the boy, but feeling so protective of the child he had brushed aside these concerns for the moment in favor of giving in to his natural instincts.

"No, not a problem, just . . . Albie doesn't really like people touching him. Jamie and I are the only ones that can, normally." The last part was delivered in that bewildered tone again, the older Potter seeming to speak more to himself than anyone else.

Scorpius, apparently satisfied that introductions were made, continued with his agenda for the day by addressing his best friend's daddy, "Albie and I want to go to Fortescues. Albie wants to have chocolate ice cream with sprinkles, just like me. Do you want to come with us? Then we can decide when Albie can come for a sleepover. Best friends have sleepovers, did you know?" Scorpius delivered this with an expectant look; clearly wishing the adults would start moving towards the ice cream shop.

"Yes, I know about sleepovers." Harry said somewhat absently. "You want Albie to come to your house?" Then as if he was just catching up to the conversation he asked in a rush, "You want to be Albie's friend?" The green-eyed man looked wistfully at the small boys now, clearly confused, but with a hopeful look that lightened his eyes and smoothed out some of the slight wrinkles that had lined his face since he had arrived. The concept of his youngest son having a friend was clearly a new one for the distressed father.

Draco could see the subtle differences in his old rival's posture that suggested that heartache and grief had constantly been with the man for quite some time now. Gone was the proud bearing and flashing green eyes that had secretly attracted him so to the boy from his school days. Before him stood a man weary and burdened from life, a protective instinct of such strength welled up in the blond man that he was momentarily stunned. After recovering slightly, the Malfoy scion decided quickly that he would not allow this opportunity to pass him by as he had throughout his teen years.

Calmly stepping closer to the disorientated man, Draco spoke to him quietly, letting his eyes take in the many changes to his former adversary. The dark-haired boy had grown taller than the last time Draco had seen him. He had clearly filled out and broadened into the body of a grown man, although he still retained the lithesome figure of his youth. "Harry," the blonde spoke after finishing his lengthy perusal, noting the faintly pinked cheeks on the slightly smaller man, "Come with us to Fortescues. We can talk while the boys get to know each other better. Scorpius is determined it seems to have Albie for his best friend, and I have learned very early that he will find a way to get what he wants eventually. It's best not to resist him."

Draco said this with levity in his voice, but his searching, intense look did not disguise the subtle, double meaning, which was also not lost on the green-eyed wizard. Harry was not sure what was happening right now, but instead of allowing all the doubts and suspicions take over, the worn down man simply nodded his consent.

"Yeah, alright. We could use an ice cream, don't you think Jamie?" Harry turned to his oldest son, looking for any signs of hesitation.

"That sounds great dad," The nine-year-old said, looking curiously between his father and the blonde-haired stranger.

Scorpius gave a little cheer, hugging his friend closer to him, "See Albie, we are going to Fortescues."

"Shall I take him, I'm sure both boys are getting heavy," Harry remarked, still a bit baffled by the whole situation. Albie had not let another adult hold him since he was a baby. Ginny had been incensed by the rejection of herself and total acceptance of him; it all came to a head when Harry had caught her shaking a screaming, 11-month-old Albus. He hadn't allowed her access to their second son without supervision since.

Ron had tried to down play it all, passing it off as some type of magical version of post-partum depression, but Harry wasn't going to risk his son on the off chance she would do it again. He remembered his time in the muggle world, seeing all the advertisements on how severe brain damage could be caused by shaking a baby. He had not appreciated that his best friend didn't back him up on his decision; even Hermione had waffled under the pressure of the collective Weaselys.

Harry was brought out of his reminiscing when he heard Albie cry out. He looked over and saw his son doing a very good impression of the giant squid as Draco tried to extract him away from Scorpius. The taller blonde instantly stopped when Albus began to cry and immediately tried to soothe him by drawing him closer, rubbing his back, and sniffing his hair, apparently to see where he was hurt.

Harry watched the whole scene in bewilderment. He felt like he had stepped into some alternate universe: Albie had made a friend that he refused to let go of; Albie was allowing someone besides Jamie or himself touch him; Draco Malfoy had actually leered at him and was now sniffing and . . . was that purring at his son?

This was _crazy_, but then seeing Albus cling to both Draco and his son caused something in his heart to be soothed like nothing else had since he had been told that his precious, second son was different and wouldn't ever develop and interact with others like everyone else. The news had been heartbreaking. Every time Harry attended functions with family and friends: celebrations on a new job, graduations, weddings, and births . . . he grieved knowing that his beautiful little boy would never have these things for himself, would never experience the joys that others would.

He hadn't even realized he was crying until he felt callused hands gently wiping the tears away. Harry looked up into the silver eyes of the slightly taller man and found deep compassion and understanding residing there. How he had missed this aspect of Draco Malfoy he did not know, but right at that moment, he was more grateful than he could say for the quiet support. It had been so long it seemed since he had allowed himself to be comforted by another.

Since the estrangement with Ginny, Harry had not experienced support from anyone, other than Andy, Teddy's grandmother, and she was often busy looking after Teddy and running the war memorial foundation she had started to honor Tonks, Remus, Ted, and all the other casualties of Voldemort's reign of terror. He couldn't really share his worries about Albie with her anyway. Andy was wonderful, but she just didn't understand about Albie.

No one seemed to understand about Albie really; even the Weasleys couldn't manage him for very long. Molly and Arthur had tried at first, but it was difficult to connect with a child who cried when you came near him and who didn't seem to understand what you were saying, or at least wouldn't respond like you would expect.

By the time he was three, the Weasleys had asked their son-in-law not to leave Albie with them overnight anymore. They continued to welcome Jamie to family functions, but taking care of his second son was too stressful for Molly. Harry supposed his final separation from Ginny about that time hadn't helped either. Needless to say, Jamie's visits had decreased as well, simply because he refused to visit the Weasleys without his brother, and Harry didn't push him about it. Harry knew he hadn't been very good about forcing the issue, but he had been very hurt when his surrogate parents had begun to exclude Albie from the family; at least that is what it felt like at the time.

The last few years had been very difficult for the Potter family. Harry had taken Albie to several specialists, but the wizards seemed woefully behind the times when it came to children like his son. It seemed that the Dumbledore families' response to a child with differences had been and continued to be the accepted practice in the wizarding world. All the doctors and mind healers that Harry had taken his son to had essentially told him the same thing; keep Albie at home and take care of him as best as he could. One old healer had even suggested placing his beautiful little boy in the muggle government's care, 'to erase the stain from his household.' Harry felt he had been justified in blowing up the man's office.

It had finally been out of desperation that Harry had consulted a muggle pediatrician. He had not had much experience with doctors as a child, due to his relative's negligence, but knew that muggles had advanced considerably in science and medicine.

The Weasleys had been horrified when he had mentioned to them that he was taking Albie to a muggle doctor. Ginny had even tried to stop him, but by then Harry had gotten full custody of both his boys and his ex-wife had very few rights in the patriarchal wizarding court. At least holding the Black Lordship and the Potter name was good for something.

The Weasleys, apparently forgetting their own daughter-in-law was a muggleborn, had tried to convince him that the muggles would try to drill into Albie's head or drain his blood from his body. Harry concluded that the muggle-studies class at Hogwarts really needed to update their curriculum. Bloodletting, really?

The pediatrician had referred Harry to a psychologist, who had diagnosed his sweet boy with a developmental disorder called Autism. Harry wasn't sure exactly how Albie's magic impacted a neurological disorder, but he wasn't going to trust one of the wizard healers to investigate the matter. Those barbarians would probably suggest binding his son's magic or some other rot, muggle foster care indeed.

Harry surfaced from his thoughts and noticed that Draco had moved even closer. He had switched the boys to one arm and his other hand that he had used to wipe away Harry's tears had then landed on the smaller man's shoulder and apparently had then drifted on down his shoulder where it was currently making distractingly soothing circles on his lower back. Harry, who had not experienced a great deal of positive, physical touch in his life, was a bit taken aback with the familiarity that Draco Malfoy, supreme git, was showing him. He would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it though.

"Thank you Draco, I . . ."

Seeing that Harry was struggling for composure, Draco gently released him after lightly patting his shoulder. Allowing his childhood adversary a moment of peace, the former Slytherin gathered the boys to him and guided them all towards the ice cream shop hoping that this chance meeting would become the first of many.


End file.
